It takes a certain level of detachment to not get sucked into the speculation and gossip-filled circus that is considered news nowadays. Most of the so called “truth” is based on opinions and assumptions, and therefore lacks true substance.
This poses a serious threat.
It becomes a problem when a pundit’s assumption or opinion is espoused as the “truth” by a group of people who refuse to second guess said pundit. In this age of widespread punditry, anyone that hears the “news” can become an expert through osmosis.
Individuals take a pundit’s assumption to heart, spread it as factual information among their circles, which in turn continue to propagate them under the false idea that they are “news.”
Talk radio is a great example of this seriously flawed cycle and format of news circulation: it turns the “truth” into an assumption gone wild.
It is important to be critical and to second-guess the media we consume; if not, we become actors in this spectacle of gossip, opinion and assumptions masquerading as news.
It’s a very vicious circle.
This is why it is imperative to not believe everything we hear and see, because even though the media has gone wild, the public must preserve its sanity.
Are you still sane?
Tags: blog talk radio, deceit, facts, gossip, honesty, intelligence, kevin touhey, news, opinion, punditry, pundits, second guess, speculation, talk-radio, talking heads
The Miracle Blog 
April 22, 2009 at 1:19 pm |
You’re absolutely correct here Kevin. We all should be concerned. Not only that, the media can be “purchased” or “owned” to advance one’s own societal goals. I recently generated two article, one on the issue of the potential lack of proportion in discussing crime by the local news media, and the presence and use of “anger” as a motivating force by many in the media. Quite frankly, I’ve never considered “whipping it up” to be a good thing.